Alexandra Kékesi

Alexandra Kékesi (26); Pécs, Hungary

A young university student and journalist, who is trying to ease the social situation of the marginalized through her activism.

I am a Gypsy girl…

…It is not easy, to write this down, and that is the reason why I did not do it for a very long time.

The exploration, recognition and acceptance of our own identities are among the bravest and most challenging tasks to undertake in this world. Especially, when the majority of the society has prejudices towards the minority group you belong to…

I grew up in a small village. My father is a Gypsy, my mother is not, and the typical racial features are not visible on me. I was hoping every day, that it is going to stay like this. Whenever I heard the word “Gypsy” I nervously looked around, I tried to change the topic of the conversation and my guts were in cramps. I just started to notice around two years ago, that the cramps were away.

Hopefully forever.

After primary school – which I finished in the village where I was born – I continued my studies in a high school, which was located in one of the bigger cities of Hungary. This led me to be a dormitory student. My previous anxieties concerning my Gypsy origin got stronger. I started to fight myself, and I worked hard to accept what, and who I am. As a start, when someone asked me about my ethnic origin, I told the truth, but the real breakthrough came during my university studies. I started to be interested in Gypsy culture. I guess I met UCCU at the perfect time. Namely, the aim of the Roma Informal Educational Foundation is to give primary and secondary school age children a better understanding on Gypsies. Children get to know the young Roma volunteers of the organization. Their aim is to sensitize the society, while strengthening the identity of their volunteers. I have no doubts, that this was exactly the thing what I needed back then. I learnt a lot about Gypsies, as well as about myself. The first time when I said out loudly for unknown people that I am a Gypsy, was at my first activity with the group. At the end of the session I mentioned it to the students. Everyone started clapping, and I got so many nice words and smiles. I will never forget it for the rest of my life. I started crying. I am incredibly grateful for the strength and endurance they gave me, which is still working in me.

At the moment, I am the coordinator of UCCU in Pécs, I am active in the field, while also learning a dialect of Roma language, which is the mother-tongue of my father. I worked for years in the civic sphere of Pécs, right now I am studying social work with a long-distance study program, and I am a fulltime journalist. I am mainly writing about topics that concern marginalized people: poor, homosexual, disabled and Gypsies. I won the award of the „Student Journalist of the Year” in 2014 for my work including a publication on marginalized children. Recently, the Goethe Institute took over one of my interviews, that I made with Szilvia Lakatos, the leader of Khetanipe. I am working in the media, and I am aware, that it is a big responsibility, and a useful tool in my hands.

I believe racism breeds fear. I do not want people to be afraid! I am working day by day in order to change it. I associate being a Gypsy with the authentic Hungarian Gypsy musicians, my temperament, and my dearest father. I want everyone to find their favourites in the Gypsy culture. To find the reason to not give an angry look at the Gypsy men in the bureau, to offer the seat to the expecting Gypsy women on the bus, and the reason to not change to the other side of the street, when a group of Gypsies are coming.

Let it be as natural, as with the non-Gypsies. Because that is the point! The biggest law of nature is disappearing behind the labels: we are all human beings! With souls, and hearts, and tons of love!